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Meritage is not a grape, or a place, or a French word, or even exclusively a red wine. Rather, Meritage is a style of wine based on the blends of Bordeaux.

With Meritage's success and Americans' warm embrace of blends, the Meritage movement may declare victory and make the word public domain.

Meritage is a made-up word that is used under license, the result of a contest to come up with a term that would refer to quality blends. A group of fine winemakers in the 1980s were put off by changing federal rules. A wine had to be composed of at least 51 percent of - let's say - cabernet sauvignon, to call the wine cabernet sauvignon. Regulators changed that to 75 percent, and the wineries making high quality blends that had been calling their wines, generally, cabernet sauvignon, now had to call them "red table wine."

The name contest came up with a portmanteau of "merit" and "heritage." So there's no need to pronounce it with the faux French "-ahj" sound.

Makers of such wines may see a marketing value in joining the Meritage Alliance and using the moniker, paying a few cents per bottle to use the name. Others may want to support a worthy cause. But others are happy calling their blends by their own made-up terms and have cultivated followings of their own, such as Cain Five, or Chateau St. Jean Cinc Cepages, Insignia and Opus One.

When the Meritage concept was hatched, U.S. wine drinkers shopped by grapes' names and looked down at blends. That has changed dramatically and more consumers recognize that blending most often makes a finished wine better.

Meritage must include at least three of the key grape varieties of Bordeaux, including cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc, malbec, merlot, petit verdot and a few other less-well-known varieties.

Smaller regional wineries see a value in using the Meritage term. Maiolatesi Wine Cellars in Scott Twp., makes Meritage only in good years for red wine in the east. The last one was in 2010. Maiolatesi 2010 American Meritage is medium bodied, with red fruit and some spice and leathery notes adding complexity. This is available at the winery for $16. â â â â

The Meritage Alliance had required that those who wanted to use the term Meritage could do so only on their top-priced wine. The group relaxed that and now you will see the term on wines of all prices, even bottom-shelf ones such as Sterling Vintners Collection 2011 Meritage which is a tasty entry in a world of boring and under-whelming $10 reds, juicy and satisfying, with a hint of green and some toffee notes. $10. â â â 1/2

There's also white Meritage, a blend of sauvignon blanc and semillon, which I never pass by.

DAVID FALCHEK, a Times-Tribune business writer, reviews wines each week. Contact him at dfalchek@timesshamrock.com.

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